


Lost Souls

by nerdk1ngblake



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Clexa, F/F, F/M, Friendship/Love, Grounder Culture, Love/Hate, Minor Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Original Character(s), Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Soul-Searching, Unrequited Love, floudon kru, floukru
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-08
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-04-25 10:59:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4957801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdk1ngblake/pseuds/nerdk1ngblake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After winning the war against Mount Weather, Bellamy is left in charge of the Sky People at Camp Jaha. Bellamy does the best that he can, but after months of Clarke’s absence, he struggles to keep peace amongst the Grounders and Arkers, so he enlists the help of Floukru peacekeeper named Freya. (AU after Season 2 finale)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own The 100 or any of it's characters.

**PROLOGUE**

  
His hand brushed lightly against hers, so lightly that she thought for a moment she’d imagined it, that the anticipation growing inside of her veins was putting her on edge.  But his hand was there when she glanced down, his fingertips grazing over her own so slowly that this time, she knew it was no accident.    
  
There was a deliberateness to his actions that caused that foreign part of her to stir again.  His breath was warm on her neck and soon her back was flush against his chest.  They’d been this close before, in less intimate ways.  But this was something different. This was something unexpected.  
  
“Stay,” he whispered and the ache in his voice mirrored the agony in her chest.   
  
She couldn’t stay, they both knew that.   
  
And yet here he was, his hand against hers, gripping it with slight desperation, his breath on her skin and he was asking - no, he was telling her - to stay.  Staying wasn’t an option now, she reminded herself with her eyes shut tight. She wanted to ignore it, the feeling that rushed through her at his nearness, at the sound of his voice and the way he’d said the simple word as if he truly meant it.  
  
Maybe he did, she allowed herself to wonder.  
  
She wanted to stay. He needed her and he could hear that hanging on the slight catch in his throat.  But things were different now. And no matter how much he needed her it wasn’t the way she needed him.  There would always be that hesitation there, hanging above her; a barrier between them that would be forever keeping them at arm’s length.    
  
She couldn’t stay, she told herself again, ignoring the way his fingers tangled between her own and now the ache that had been so heavy in her chest rose steadily until it lodged itself in her throat.  She swallowed hard but the lump of sorrow did not move. If possible, it only grew larger.  Soon it would burst out and everything she was bottling up would be on display for him to see.  
  
And that she could not bear.  
  
She willed herself to step away from him so they were no longer touching.  She did not look back at him as she stepped outside, out into the rain as the sky opened up in the same turmoil that was swirling around within her.    
  
And then she said it.  
  
“No.”  
  
It left an immediate void inside of her, the word, which had been said just as simply as his.  It had the power to crush everything inside of her as she walked away.  And this time, she didn’t look back.  
  



	2. Flougada

**CHAPTER ONE**     
_Flougada_

**FREYA**

 

There was a large tree, nestled just on the edge of the forest that was in direct view of Camp Jaha and its inhabitants. The Sky People went about their business, building and managing their camp in the free time which they’d garnered after their brief war with Mount Weather.  No one wanted to say the word peace but there had been a lull as of late seemed to ease their demeanors. They felt safe, for the time being, and certainly did not worry about the idea of individuals lurking around in trees.  
  
This tree, in particular, was far enough out of their view that no one noticed the young woman, perched expertly above the branches where she remained unseen from dawn until dusk on most days since arriving inland.  She had spent the majority of the last few months coming and going freely and no one seemed to take any notice as she observed them each carefully, learning what she could from her observations, those of which were scribbled neatly in her notebook that sat on her lap.  
  
In fact, it was nearly dusk when she reached for her pack with every intention to call it a night. Her bunker was barely a half mile into the forest, secluded enough that no one would find her unless she wanted to be found.  But as she glanced back at the camp, as she packed away her notebook, a figure leaving the Ark’s entrance caught her eye.    
  
 _Skai-heda_ , she thought to herself.   
  
Bellamy Blake had been leading the Sky People for nearly six months since the defeat of the Mountain Men.  She had observed his leadership for four of those months, off and on, and this was the first time in one hundred and twenty-two observations that she’d seen him without a rifle hoisted over his shoulders.    
  
She grabbed hold of her camera and it’s telephoto lense, pulling it up to her eyes for a better view and she could see that despite his half smile as he passed by his people, there was a lack of spirit in his step.  His head was drooped downwards, staring at his feet as he made his way towards the gate, avoiding eye contact where possible.    
  
When his eyes finally did lift from their place in the mud, he looked out towards the treeline.  They were deliberate despite the far off look embedded in his brown eyes and she could see instantly that he was searching.  If she hadn’t seen that look nearly one hundred and twenty-two times, she might have thought he had spotted her there in her tree as his eyes then danced over her hiding spot.  But she’d seen it nearly every time he emerged from the walls of the camp.  Always searching.  
  
For her.  
  
Clarke Griffin had abandoned her place at Camp Jaha for a pursuit of her own semblance of peace. Less time had been spent observing Clarke and yet she knew more about the previous Sky Queen than she did of its current Heda.  Clarke wore her heart on her sleeve.  The heartbreak, the darkness, it all hung easily in her eyes, in the slump of her shoulders.  Even in her tears.  But for Bellamy Blake, there was mostly mystery.  
  
It intrigued her.    
  
Did he miss Clarke? Did he resent her?  She wasn’t entirely sure what to make of those brown eyes and their searching.  There was worry, that much was clear.  But with responsibility came more and more worries.  Worry for the sick, worry for the stability of their community for the future.  It was all for good reason.  With Clarke gone, he was in charge now.  The people looked to him.  And there would not be peace for long.  Not with tensions between the Arkers and the Trigeda hanging heavier over their heads.  Conflict was brewing, and soon he’d have that to worry over as well.  
  
She cocked her head to one side, memorizing his features the way she had memorized Clarke’s.  They both had something familiar, something she too felt burdening her with each passing day.  But she refused to name it.  Name it, she thought, and it would only hold real power over her.  Name it, she thought, and she would have to face those same demons from which she spent so much time running from.

 

 

* * *

 

**BELLAMY**

 

There was a shooting star.  
  
A shooting star that climbed across the night sky with such speed that he almost missed it entirely.  But he’d been staring up at the stars for hours now.  In fact he’d been outside the walls for hours and he was certain someone would come looking for him soon.  
  
He had responsibilities, things that needed taking care of and he was the one the people looked at to do them, now.  But sometimes, late in the night when there were less problems that needed fixing and a clear sky, he would wander out into the abyss of night, somewhere close to the treeline to think.  Perhaps it was dangerous.  But he liked that a idea a little more than the confinement and the accountability he was drowning under.    
  
So he’d walked to the treeline and watch shooting stars. And he’d always try his best not to think of her.  
  
Clarke.  
  
She’d left him. Left him to deal with the backlash of what was done - what they’d done - at Mount Weather.  He couldn’t help the bitterness that brewed within him when his mind wandered to that thought. He resented that she had left, hated that she had walked away, saddling him with all of this on his own. He would have liked to walk away, he wanted to tell her.  He would have rather not had to face what he had done.  No, what they had done.  They had done it together. Like always.  
  
He could hardly remember a time when he hadn’t consulted Clarke in a decision.  At first, it was overwhelming and he would never admit that the thought of everyone looking to him once more, frightened him a little.  Clarke had made tough decisions in their fight against their enemies, decisions that he’d only heard about second hand when everything was all said and done.  He knew Mount Weather had been too much.  But he was still here. And she wasn’t.  
  
And now he was stuck looking at shooting stars wondering where they hell she was and why she’d left everything to him.  
  
A sound behind him caught interrupted his bitter thoughts.  It was the crunch of a leaf or a small twig, he was sure.  He glanced over his shoulder slowly, letting his hand fall to the rifle in his arms.  There hadn’t been a Trigeda spotted near Camp in weeks.  Sometimes he’d see them, watching, waiting as if there was something he didn’t know.  Lincoln assured him if they were going to attack, they would have already.  Something else had the Trigeda’s attention as of late.  He just didn’t know what.  
  
The sound grew further away, a squirrel perhaps.  He planned to ignore it, he had already decided he was going to start back towards camp, when he spotted something at the base of the large tree, a few feet away.  He strained his eyes in the darkness, then shined his flashlight on the object that was wedged between the trunk of the tree and its root.   
  
He had told himself once that curiosity was a curse of his.  He could not help his wandering mind. He stood, walking slowly towards it as he glanced around him, spotting nothing and no one nearby.  He crouched down, pulling the object from the mud and realizing it was a piece of paper, words smeared slightly but still legible.   
  
It was Trigedasleng, scrawled neatly across the page despite the smudges on the edge.  He’d been learning the language, with the help of his sister and Lincoln. But he still struggled with the writing. The words still looked like gibberish and despite his eagerness to learn, he simply didn’t have the time to practice.   
  
He folded the parchment up, placing it in his pocket as he made his way through the trees, deeper into the thickest part of it until he stopped at the voice on the radio attached at his hip.  
  
“Where are you going, Blake?” Kane’s voice asked and Bellamy paused, clutching the device in his hand as he shook his head and sighed.  
  
“Can’t a man go for a walk in the woods without the calvary raining down on him?” he tried to joke but Kane’s tone remained unamused.  
  
“You made the rules, not me. Remember?  No one goes out alone, no one goes out at night.”  
  
“Isn’t this is the part where I get to say that, because I make the rules, I can break them from time to time?”  
  
Radio silence.  Bellamy felt a twinge of amusement at Kane’s inner struggle. The man who had blurred more borders than he could count on the Ark had taken up a strange moral high ground since landing on Earth. He may not have been in charge any more, but he didn’t mind asserting his opinion in as he pleased.    
  
“Twenty minutes,” the man answered finally and Bellamy smirked.  “That’s all the rule breaking you get for tonight.”  
  
“Copy that,” Bellamy laughed into the radio before hooking it back on his waist before continuing on.    
  
Whatever element of surprise he’d held before was no longer in his favor.  The darkness cloaked most of the evidence of footprints or split branches that would help him track.  But luckily for him, it had rained most of the day, allowing the ground to soften.  He had a general direction and in only a matter of minutes, he found footsteps clumsily hidden away from his path.    
  
He followed them, cautiously enough that he never took his finger away from the trigger as he stepped carefully around the tracks.  The footprints were relatively small for a grounder, but he’d seen women grounders before.  Months ago he would might have hesitated at fighting a woman.  But things were different here. And male or female, he wouldn’t hesitate to cut down a threat.  
  
Bellamy’s footsteps paused as the prints in the mud came to a halt.  There was a slight rumble above him as clouds began moving in from the North. It would rain again soon and he didn’t want to be stuck out here in bad weather overnight.  Even so, he shined his flashlight around the area where the footprints disappeared and saw nothing but a boulder, a few bushes and a large tree.  The bush turned up nothing and there were no mud prints on the boulder indicating that the grounder - if it was a grounder - had climbed over it.    
  
He sighed, disappointed at the lack of answers and the dead end for his late night hunt.  He turned back, reaching for his walkie to radio Kane but before he could hold down the transmit button there was a sound that caught his attention.    
  
He thought he imagined it at first, the soft hum that rose and fell in steady beats.  A melody.  A song.  Music, he thought, but then quickly dismissed the thought as he again brought the radio up to his mouth.  Then again, the sound interrupted his thoughts, this time it was louder as he stepped closer towards the tree.    
  
The rain started then, light at first as he stepped closer and closer to the tree.  He was sure it was music, then.  He thought perhaps he even recognized the piece of classical piano that he could hear ringing through his ears.  With each step, he grew more and more sure, until finally he was right up against the tree, tripping over what he thought was a root and launching himself hard against the trunk.    
  
He eyed the spot where he’d tripped, the flashlight shining on the root which he soon discovered, wasn’t a root at all.  It was something hard, covered by debris lazily scattered around it.  It was poorly hidden, but as soon as he crouched down he realized exactly what it was.  
  
A  hatch door.    
  
He’d found a bunker in the woods, inexplicably filled with music.  It explained the disappearing footsteps, he realized, pulling his gun closer as he lifted the hatch slowly.  He was careful, listening for movement among the music though there was nothing but the sounds of smooth piano rising up through the hatch door.  He was sure Kane would give him hell for it later, but he couldn’t help himself as he climbed down into it, his curiosity getting the better of him once more.  
  
He didn’t close the hatch behind him all the way as he climbed down the ladder, taking in the view of the bunker.  He tried not to be in awe of his surroundings, but he couldn’t help the way his mouth dropped at the size of it all.  He’d been in a number of bunkers since reaching Earth, but nothing compared to this one.  Books lined one wall, more books than Bellamy could remember seeing in most of his time on the Ark. There was a large painting taking up part of another wall and though he did not let his eyes linger too long on the embracing couple, he saw enough of it to find momentary comfort in it’s warmth and vibrance.    
  
The room lead into a passageway that split off into several different corridors.  The music grew loudest on his left and after looking down the other two darker hallways, he opted to head towards it.  The music echoed loudly through the confined path but Bellamy felt engulfed in it, struggling to keep his focus on the task at hand as he walked into a larger room, this one looked like a bedroom with a spacious bed made neatly with plain grey sheets.   
  
The room was empty, lit by only a few candles on the bedside table.  But on a small hutch in the corner Bellamy spotted the source of the music. He’d seen the contraption before, something that he’d seen only once in a book and never in person.  A record player was a rarity and few on the Ark had ever seen one, let alone heard one playing.    
  
Bellamy turned back to the hall, where across from where he stood was a closed door.  The space beneath it glowed red, a bright red that filled the darkness of the corridor for several moments before suddenly it went black.  Bellamy tensed as the door handle wiggled slightly and he rose his gun as a figure stepped out hands occupied.    
  
A woman, he confirmed and it was only a split moment that he watched her features before she caught sight of him and she jumped, startled as she backed into the closed door behind her, dropping the contents of her hands all over the floor around her.  He glanced down, only for a moment, realizing the papers in her hand weren’t papers at all, but photographs.  
  
Photographs of him.  
  
His eyes locked with hers, wide and hazel and full of fear.  “What is this?” he questioned her but she didn’t respond.  “Who are you,” he asked next, his gun raised at her and his voice filled with more force.   
  
Silence was once again her response and the only sound between them was the record still filling the room.  Bellamy reached down, keeping his gun trained on her, and picked up several of the photos.  But before he could look at the images with any comprehension, he felt her knee rise up to his chin, knocking him backwards as she sprinted down the corridor.   
  
He lost his balance for only a brief moment, feeling a sickening ache in his nose where her knee made impact.  He ran after her, ignoring the feeling of warm liquid running down his face.  The corridor led back into the large sitting area, empty and showing no signs that she’d rushed through.  He didn’t have the opportunity to turn around when he felt himself being knocked over. The force of the concrete floor caused him to groan as his face collided with it.   
  
He rolled, grabbing hold of the first part of her he could find, dropping her to the ground at her side as he pulled her leg out from under her.  He’d dropped his gun, but he was bigger than her, stronger even and he pinned her down under his weight.  But she didn’t submit to his strength.  Instead, it only seemed to incite her more as she swung at him, this time he dodged and grabbed hold of her arms. He pinned her down, both of them breathing heavily and she stared up at him this time not in fear, but animosity.    
  
“Who...are you?” he demanded, trying to catch his breath as he spoke. Her fingers curled into fists as she struggled against his hands wrapped tightly around her wrists.  “ _Chon yu bilaik!?_ ” he tried again, this time in Trigedasleng and the words only registered slightly in her eyes as she moved her gaze from his and let her wrists go limp.   
  
They sat that way for many moments, long enough that Bellamy finally got a proper look at her and realized she didn’t look like any of the grounders he’d seen before.  She didn’t wear war paint, her clothes were simple, no armor like most of the Trigeda warriors he’d met before.  Her dark hair was sprawled about her against the floor looking clean and groomed and her simple grey tank was now covered in blood.  It took him only a moment to realize the blood was his own and he pulled his hand back to wipe his nose, trying not to flinch at the pain.  
  
It was a mistake.  
  
The second he released his hand she managed to maneuver herself so that he was flipped on his back and their positions were now reversed.  Her legs were straddled on either side of his hips, her small arms deceivingly strong as she held him there.  She didn’t waste a moment or allow him an opportunity to gain back the upper hand as she grabbed something from her leg, a dagger, and held it to his throat.   
  
“ _Set daun, Skai-Heda,_ ” she whispered and he had no choice but to abide her command to stay down with her blade so precariously placed against his flesh.  
  
Her hair fell down around him, her face close to his as she too caught her breath.  She didn’t seem to falter as her eyes glanced towards the rifle, not far from where they were entangled. Two strangers, intertwined in such an intimacy that rivaled between danger and curiosity.  He couldn’t help the intrigue that crawled within him. Who was this woman, this grounder who so easily overpowered him?    
  
“Blake, what’s your status?” his radio hissed, Kane interrupting the tension hanging over the two of them.   
  
She stared down at the radio for only a moment before her head cocked to the side.  Her hand reached down to his hip, moving his jacket away only slowly, her eyes trained on his as she lifted the hem of his tshirt.  She pulled the radio off of his hip and placed it on her own.  She seemed to notice the questions in his eyes as she stood quickly, pulling the rifle up and aiming it at him with ease.  His brow furrowed at her stance, at the way her finger lightly hovered over the trigger with no intentions of actually pulling it.  
  
“Blake?” the radio spat again. “I repeat, what’s your status?”  
  
She left him, then. Leaving him alone with only questions and piles of photographs with his face on them.  He thought about running after her, but she had his gun and the unforeseen knowledge of how to use it. She had his radio too and would likely not be answering Kane with his status.  Kane would send someone after him and he’d have to explain how he ended up overpowered by a woman half his size.  And he’d have to address the gun thing. He wasn’t looking forward to either conversation.    
  
He tore off a piece of his frayed shirt and held it to his nose. He was still bleeding, and he felt angry again once he started wondering if she’d broken it.  His steps echoed now of the bunker walls, now void of any music.  He found the stack of photos, the pictures that tracked him for what looked like days at Camp Jaha.  Sometimes they were taken while he was outside the walls, sometimes on a hunt.  Wherever she’d hidden, no one had noticed her presence.    
  
He glanced up at the room where the red light had once been and he turned the knob.  He searched in the darkness for the switch, flipping on the light once more so that it was engulfed in the same dull red light and his eyes widened. They weren’t just pictures of a few days, they were pictures spanning weeks, months even.  She’d been watching him mostly, but he saw pictures of others.  Octavia, Raven, Kane and Abby.  Lincoln.  But there was something else that gave him pause as his eyes grazed through hundreds of pictures lining the walls.  He stepped closer, sure he was seeing wrong until he pulled the picture down and viewed it closer.  Her clothes were different, her face painted and her hair pulled up in intricate braids of warrior fashion.  But it was her.  
  
It was Clarke.

 

 

* * *

 

**BELLAMY**

 

 

“You still think she won’t be back?”

“Not for a couple of days most likely, she knows we’ve found this place.  She’ll probably be watching,” Lincoln told Bellamy as they rummaged through a few items on the neatly organized desk.  

Lincoln pulled several papers out of a drawer, glanced over them and shook his head.  They’d found nothing so far, only pictures and the camera they’d been taken with.  There were two hundred and twelve pictures in total, most of them of Camp Jaha but the few of Clarke were the only ones Bellamy was curious about.  Lincoln said they’d been taken in Polis but neither could tell how recently.  

“And besides, she won’t come near here with our people up there on watch.  We’ve got four guns scouting the area.  And she doesn’t look like she has much back here to risk being captured for,” he ventured a guess.

Bellamy had returned to camp to several concerned faces, namely his sister who looked ready to hunt down his assailant and put them at the mercy of her sword.  But he explained the situation, in as little humiliating detail as he could manage, before he was sent to Abby for an evaluation of his injuries.  

They set out with a small group at dawn.  Lincoln, Octavia, Kane, Nathan and David Miller joined him and they’d spent most of the day going through the bunker’s things.  The four others stood watch while Bellamy brought Lincoln down into the bunker.  This time, Bellamy didn’t let down his guard, holding his rifle firm as they searched the place for any signs of the grounder girl.  But it was empty, just as he’d left it the night before.  A mess was still in the living area from where they’d struggled and Bellamy ignored Lincoln’s attempt to suppress his smile when he saw the damage.  

They searched the place, every inch of it, for clues as to who she was.  The hand-written notes stowed in her desk were of little use.  Lincoln’s translations deducted that they weren’t even pertaining to their camp or Clarke’s whereabouts.  This frustrated Bellamy, making him wonder if he’d have been able to fight a little harder, if he could have brought her back to camp for answers. He didn’t mention this frustration to Lincoln.  Both knew what happened when grounders didn’t want to give answers.  Bellamy swore he’d never be a part of that again.

“What’s this?” he asked then, lifting the pillow of the spacious bed to find a small leather-bound book nestled underneath and Lincoln grabbed it in his hands.

“Observation notebook,” Lincoln murmured, leafing through the pages until he paused.  

“What’s it say?” Bellamy asked, glancing over Lincoln’s shoulder and noticed the handwriting was the same familiar script from the letter he’d found at the base of the tree.  

“Coordinates, lists, notes about the camp.  Notes about...us,” explained Lincoln.  “She’s detailed, but strangely vague.  There’s nothing in here that says why she’s been watching us.  Or who she is even.  I can’t imagine the Commander would send her for these.  If those photos are any proof, she’s with Clarke and Clarke knows everything there is to know about camp.”

“But what if Clarke doesn’t know she’s sent this girl?” Bellamy questioned and Lincoln shook his head, his brow furrowed.

“I don’t know, this isn’t like our people,” he thought aloud.  “Something’s different.  Even her text, dialect changes are hard to catch in text, but some of these…” he trailed off, glancing back up at Bellamy with a curious expression.  “What did she look like?”

“I told you, she didn’t look like a warrior.”

“No, I know that. But what did she look like? Her eyes, her stature...did she have any tattoos?” Lincoln questioned, still flipping the pages as he read over her notes.  

Bellamy shook his head. He’d described her already.  And bringing up the fact that she was small was only more embarrassing each time it came up.  

“Dark hair, light eyes I guess.  She was maybe a head shorter than me, about Octavia’s size if I had to guess.  I didn’t see much of…” he paused, remembering her arms pinned above her head.  He’d held her wrists, stared down at her and he remembered there were markings.  He hadn’t paid much attention to them at the time but he could make them out in his head.  “She had something on her arm, here,” he motioned, his fingers on the underside of his bicep. “Some sort of spiral,” he tried to explain, pulling a sheet of paper from the desk and grabbing a pencil so small it barely fit across his hand.  

He tried drawing it from memory as Lincoln glanced again around the room. He stopped around the spot where Bellamy had been knocked to the ground.  When Bellamy finished the poorly drawn sketch he held it up for Lincoln to see but his eyes were trained on something else.  He crouched down, picking up something that looked like debris from the fight with the grounder, but Lincoln’s eyes grew more concerned as he turned the object in his hand. Bellamy could barely make out that it was a bracelet. Lincoln glanced up to Bellamy’s drawing and his eyes widened.  

“ _Skrish_!” Lincoln muttered, the expletive he’d heard Octavia use more frequently as of late and jumped to his feet.  “This is a trap!”

Bellamy, alerted now by Lincoln’s sudden outburst, ran after him, pulling his rifle into his hands as they rushed out of the bunker.  Lincoln saw them first, but Bellamy heard the Trigedasleng before he even made it up to the surface.  He immediately saw several rifles pointed down at him, Lincoln already disarmed and on the ground.

“ _Fayagon ona graun, Skayon_ ,” an unmasked grounder hissed at him.  He didn’t budge as they’d instructed, training his rifle up, instead, as he attempted to stay balanced on the steps.  “ _Ona graun!_ ” they shouted again and Bellamy took only a split second to glance around.

His people were all disarmed, guns trained on them that he did not recognize.  Lincoln did not look nearly as concerned as Bellamy but his eyes were narrowed, watching the man with the gun pointed at Octavia.  

“They were waiting for us,” Kane announced but was nudged, gently enough that it caused Bellamy to furrow his brow in confusion.  

“ _Shof op,_ ” Kane’s grounder muttered half-heartedly.

“I’m not putting this gun down until I know what the hell is going on here,” he growled out.  

No one spoke, none of them even moved at first as Bellamy climbed out of the bunker, watching the grounders carefully, glancing occasionally at Octavia who was on her knees with the rest of his people.  

“I want answers,” he muttered again.  “I know you understand me. So start talking.”

There was a large grounder, one that was standing nearest to Lincoln moved first.  Bellamy trained his sights towards him as he moved quickly. He grabbed hold of Octavia but the arm before Bellamy could even register what was happening and he felt his blood begin to boil. He saw Lincoln wriggling wildly in the grasp of the two men who had him by his arms.

“ _Dison laik yu sis, Skayon?_ ” the man asked and his eyes were as dark as the tone with which he spoke.  

He knew Octavia was his sister. Which meant they knew other things, things that might put everyone else here at risk.  The man’s hands moved to her neck, so large that his fingers could nearly wrap all the way around as they gripped her throat lightly.  Bellamy didn’t waste another moment before raising his arms.  

“Okay!” he shouted. “ _Pleni,_ ” he announced because it was enough.  It was enough for him and he knew even before the grounder had Octavia that he wasn’t going to win this stand-off.  

He had barely placed his rifle on the ground before another grounder gathered it up, slinging it over his own shoulder while another helped him roughly to the ground.  The larger grounder removed his hands from Octavia but Bellamy did not relax as she was put back on her knees.  

“You have my gun, now what do you want?” he asked, his tone short, his words loud and forceful.  But no one moved.

If anything he saw the grounders relax slightly, their hands moved from the triggers of their guns, their stances shifting as they waited.  Bellamy wanted to know what they were waiting for but no one seemed to oblige his request for information.  In fact, now that he was unarmed, they seemed entirely uninterested in all of them.  Almost as if they were all bored.

“What the hell happened up here,” he muttered to Kane.  Kane who looked up to see if the grounders would silence them, had a small fresh cut over his right eye.

“They ambushed us.  They were waiting.  Not long after you two went down into the bunker they surprised us.  There were more of them than us.  And they all had guns,” he added, motioning around at their guards.  

“Since when do grounders use guns anyway? And where’d they even get them, these aren’t ours?” David Miller asked and one of the grounders tried to conceal an amused snort.  

It was clue enough that they did in fact understand what they were saying, despite the fact that they refused to acknowledge his questions.  

“These aren’t Trigeda,” Lincoln answered and Bellamy’s head snapped towards him. He’d seen the symbol, seen the object on the ground in the bunker and known this was a trap. “These are the Floudon Kru. And they  _do_  use guns.”

“Wait, Floudon?” Bellamy asked, confused. “These are Boat Nation?”

“I recognized the bracelet in the bunker. But I wasn’t sure until you showed me the symbol, on the paper.  It’s their clan’s flag,” he replied and the sudden knowledge seemed to clear several questions lingering in the back of Bellamy’s mind. “And I’ve seen that tattoo before.”

“ _Osa na hit choda op nodotaim, Lincoln,_ ” a voice greeted from the shadows.

The darkness of dusk’s shadows did not conceal her for long as she stepped out into the clearing and Bellamy was faced yet again with the mysterious grounder who had left him beaten in the bunker. She wore the same simple tank and trousers she’d been wearing the night before. Even from where she stood he could see his bloodstains still soiling the fabric.

She greeted Lincoln with a small smile as she spoke, the words Bellamy recognized meaning this was not the first time the two grounders had crossed paths. Bellamy’s eyes shot to Lincoln, in question.

“You know her?” Bellamy asked and Lincoln’s eyes did not leave hers as she stepped closer.  

“She’s Luna’s daughter, Freya.  She’s the peacekeeper of Floukru,” Lincoln explained and Freya grinned at the introduction.

She glanced then at Bellamy, intent on stepping his direction next when her steps were interrupted by another voice.

“This is keeping the peace?” Octavia scoffed and Freya paused, turning on her heel as she then made her way towards his sister.

Bellamy felt himself tense again, but this time, Lincoln did not budge.  Freya smiled fondly down at Octavia as she looked over her, placing her hand first on the younger girl’s shoulder then grazing her face with the back of her fingertips.  Octavia answered her touch by jerking away.  Freya only seemed to find it amusing.

“ _Dison yu skaigada?_ ” she asked, looking to Lincoln to confirm that she was in fact, his Sky girl. She grabbed Octavia’s chin gently in her hand as if inspecting her. “ _Nou foto.  En’s--_ ”

“ _En na sen yu in,_ ” Octavia ground out, interrupting whatever praise Freya was about to bestow on Lincoln’s woman.

Octavia’s grasp of Trigedsleng was much more advanced than Bellamy’s. He understood most of what was being said. But even not understanding the language it was clear by Octavia’s impatient outburst that she was done being talked about as if she wasn’t there.

Freya chuckled as she answered, “I like her.” Her fingers toyed with the tips of Octavia’s long hair as she laughed.

“Enough with this, Freya. What do you want?” Lincoln interrupted. “You lured us out here, why?”

“Lured? That’s quite an accusation.  It was your heda who attacked me in my bunker. I only came back here for what was mine. I am here for peace.”

“You planned this,” he replied, his scowl deepening. “You aren’t lazy enough to get caught. You knew he’d follow you. You wanted him to. I know your tricks”

“It’s not a trick,” she insisted, dropping the strands of Octavia’s hair and walking casually over towards them.  “I really do come her with every intention of peace between our clans.”

“You say that with guns pointed at our heads,” Kane growled and she shot him a look of contempt.

“Just because I come in peace doesn’t mean I have faith that you’ll offer me the same pleasantries. I’ve watched you for months and you bring those guns everywhere. You expect me allow my people anywhere near you without assurances for their safety?”

“Then how about we dispense with the hostility?” Bellamy suggested, finally speaking and her eyes darted towards him for the first time since she’d entered the clearing.  

She looked at him for many moments, observing his features in the light of the dying sun, setting over the eastern skyline.  
  
“Fair enough,” she conceded, almost boredly as she shrugged and called out to her men. “ _Chil daun._ ”

Her eyes never moved from Bellamy’s as her men abided her order. Their guns moved from their targets to their sides and each man offered an arm to lift their captives to their feet. Bellamy declined.

“Give them their guns,” she instructed next, this time in English.

Her orders were once again answered with swift obedience and the dozen of her men began redistributing the weapons they’d previously collected.  The larger man, the one who had threatened his sister with his hands around her neck, stepped nearest towards Freya. The man towered over her, his eyes still dark and cautious. He whispered something in her ear and she nodded.

“You’ve been watching us,” Bellamy stated.

“Yes, you mostly. But I’m sure you noticed that already from my pictures,” she answered and suddenly the airy off-handedness in her demeanor seemed to shift. Even her stance held more solemnity than her previous attitude.

“Why?” he asked then.  “For how long?”

“I’ve been making important observations under my mother’s orders.  My whole reason for being her was at her behest,” Freya answered and there was a sincerity in her voice that Bellamy considered briefly.

He did not know her, did not know if she would lie or trick him into believing an elaborate story. She’d tricked him to come here, to capture his people.  But there was something quiet about it, patient even and she herself had no visible weapons at hand. She did not seem to want to hurt them. But that assumption alone did nothing to loosen Bellamy’s hold on his gun.

“Luna doesn’t sanction kidnapping,” Lincoln countered and Freya rolled her eyes.

“Oh stop exaggerating, Lincoln.  I’ve simply called this meeting on my terms. I couldn’t waltz up to the gates after your war with Trigeda. They’ve got people watching your camp as well. You’re lucky we got to you first.”

The thought wasn’t surprising to Bellamy, but he did feel strangely more on edge at hearing it confirmed. He assumed that the Trigeda would check up on them. But he had hoped that their presence would be more obvious than it apparently was.

“No,” Lincoln disagreed.  “That’s not what this is.  Luna didn’t send you here to talk to us. Otherwise why lure us all out here at all.  You knew I was here. You could have waited until I was on a hunt. I would have gotten you a meeting. So what’s all this really about?”

“You always were smarter than you looked,” muttered Freya, shifting slightly as her eyes glanced downwards. She didn’t think anyone saw this slight change in demeanor, but Bellamy caught it easily as he observed her movements. “Fine, you’re right. She didn’t want me making contact.  I was to observe and report my findings. I was planning on returning back to the village today. Obviously the plan changed.”

“Is Clarke there? At your village?” Bellamy couldn’t help but ask and this time it was her eyes observing him. Her eyes crawled over him and he shifted slightly at her unyielding stare.  
  
“No,” she answered finally.  “I took those pictures outside of Polis, Skai-Heda. She has been there with the Trigeda for months.”

This revelation unnerved Bellamy, the idea that Clarke would crawl to Lexa’s heed after such a betrayal.  Clarke left her people for the decisions she made at Mount Weather, decisions that were only necessary because of Lexa’s betrayal to the Arkers.

“What is she doing in Polis?” Lincoln asked and Freya shrugged, impatiently.

“Your Clarke has struggled for months since the defeat of Mount Weather.  When I left her there, she was changed.  I don’t know much, but I can tell you she has no interesting in being found right now.”

“And you know this because you asked her?” Bellamy interrupted, his tone thick with the frustration he felt at the news of Clarke’s location.

“I don’t usually interact with my targets. You’re the exception, it would seem.”

“She means she is not welcome in Polis,” Lincoln corrected. The announcement caused a frown to appear across Freya’s pink lips. “You wouldn’t have been able to follow Clarke much inside the capitol.  Not with Lexa there.”

“Why?” Kane questioned before Bellamy could.

“My cousin and I don’t exactly see eye to eye, as you might say,” Freya interjected before Lincoln could speak. “It is not that I am not welcome, but my presence would only cause unnecessary strife.  But that is my business.”

“So you followed Clarke for a few months, why come here?” Octavia spoke up, her curiosity burning like Bellamy’s. “What do you want from us.”

Freya’s answer came, her eyes dancing from Octavia, to her brother and she nodded her head once in his direction. “Him,” she replied. “My people are in trouble. Skai-heda, and I need your help.”

* * *

 

 **A/N: Thank you to everyone for reading my first chapter. I hope I caused a little bit of intrigue and mystery. I also, of course, hope you will continue to follow my story as I continue to delve into the story of Freya, my Floudon OC and Bellamy and his crew.  Thoughts and comments are always appreciated! Thank you again for taking the time to check this out!**    
  
 **Translations:**

  
 _Floudon Kru/Floukru_  = Boat People/Boat Nation  
  
 _Heda_  = Leader/Commander/All around person in charge  
  
 _Chon yu bilaik!?_  = who are you!?  
  


 _Set daun, Skai-Heda_  = Stay down, Sky Commander  
  


 _Skrish_  = Shit (expletive)  
  


 _Fayagon ona graun, Skayon_  = Put your weapons on the ground, Sky One  
  


 _Shof op_  = Quiet!  
  


 _Dison laik yu sis, Skayon?_  = This your sister, Sky One?  
  


 _Pleni_  = Enough  
  


 _Osa na hit choda op nodotaim, Lincoln_  = We meet again, Lincoln  
  


 _Dison yu skaigada?_  = This your Sky Girl?  
  


 _Nou foto.  En’s--_  = Not bad. She’s--  
  


 _En na sen yu in_  = She can hear you  
  


 _Chil daun._  = Stand down

 

 


	3. Hukop

 

**CHAPTER TWO**

_ Hukop _

* * *

 

**FREYA**

 

The Sky camp was just as confining as she had predicted.  Once inside the walls of the compound, Freya began to feel the pressure of the looks that burned through her.  The Sky People were still skeptical. She couldn’t blame them exactly.  She’d had the opportunity to watch them for months but to them she was still a stranger.     
  
She sat with Lucian outside the Ark. They were seated far enough away from most of the Arkers that she could converse with him without the worry that they’d be overheard.  They’d had a heated argument leading up to their agreement to stay at the camp during their negotiations with the Sky People.  He’d agreed but he was still glaring at her as he sipped from his flask.  She wasn’t oblivious to the way he toyed absently with the hem of his shirt and she knew there was a knife beneath it, the one that the Sky People hadn’t confiscated.     
  
Lucian didn’t like them.  But there were few people that Lucian did like.  Even back home he was content to be labeled a loner. But he was an outsider to some, a Trigeda who had known her father and left his own for reasons very few knew.  Freya didn’t care what he was labeled so long as he was by her side.  She, like him, trusted with caution and therefore trusted few.  She still hadn’t thanked him for following her.  She knew what he’d sacrificed to do so.  What he’d left behind.  For her.  Because above all they had each other now. And Lucian would never leave her side so long as she head breath in her lungs.    
  
He’d been a warrior in his youth, fought alongside her father for a different Commander. But he also fought for the Floudon. She remembered what it was like during the unrest. Freya was a child then, still young and naive to the ways of the world.  But war had come to their people before. And naivety and innocence were lost in battle.  Lucian had fought for her mother, been the warrior where she couldn’t be. And in turn, when Freya was in need, he fought for her as well.   
  
“They do not trust you,  _ Heda _ ,” he whispered in their language, leaning back in his chair to pose as if he was relaxed.  Freya could see his jaw was still tense.  He was alert.   
  
She took a bite of her stew, sipping at the warm broth as it ran down her throat.  It was bland, she thought. The Sky People cooked for survival not to savor.  But she wouldn’t tell them that. Not yet. There were more important things.   
  
“They’ll come around. Lincoln, will convince them,” she answered in their language as well, careful that no one overheard.  She could see Octavia nearby and she wondered off-handedly if her brother had sent her to spy on them.   
  
“You still think him reliable after what you did?” She rolled her eyes, something he didn’t like because he always frowned when she did.   
  
“Why does everyone feel compelled to bring that up? It was a misunderstanding,” she tried to explain, her annoyance clear in her voice.   
  
“Regardless, there will be difficulty. Don’t you think we should have waited? Until we--” he started but her eyes flickered quickly to Octavia and she cleared her throat.   
  
“We can’t wait any longer, Lucian.  If we do nothing, we risk the lives of our people back home.”   
  
“People who have disrespected your leadership.  People who have abandoned you.  For Eden.”   
  
She didn’t answer because he was right.  She was doing all of this, placing her life and fate in the hands of the Sky People. If she failed she would be ensuring the destruction of the  _ Floudon _ , the people who had chosen Eden, over her, for their security. If she succeeded, however, there was still no guarantee that it would change anything.    
  
She was going to answer him, tell him that their choice was made and she couldn’t protect their people so they turned to someone who could.  But before the words could fall from her lips she saw Lincoln emerging from the building.  She immediately straightened in her seat, allowing her chin to rise slightly, her eyes vacant of the worry she hid so well.   
  
“They’ve agreed to hear your proposal,” he told her lowly, Octavia joining him at his side.   
  
“I suppose I have you to thank for that?” she suggested and he shrugged.   
  
“I know Luna wouldn’t send you here unless the situation was serious.  Despite how our last meeting ended, I believe you’re intentions with these people are true,” he answered her and she gave him a half smile as she stood, offering her arm out to him in truce.     
  
He only hesitated a moment before taking it with his own. Octavia stared at their clasped arms for only a moment before looking away and walking towards the Ark.  Freya followed, Lucian at her side.   
  
Inside the Ark was even stranger than she had imagined.  She had observed it plenty from the outside, but the inside had always remained somewhat of a mystery.  She tried not to seem too curious as her eyes swept over the walls, lingering over the coldness of the brushed steel cage surrounding her.   
  
The room she was brought to was small, but it had a table with several seats around it.  The seats were frayed slightly with age, much like things on Earth.  Six faces stared up at her from around the table.  Three others entered the room behind Lincoln and Octavia.  All of them glanced to Lucian.     
  
“You’ll understand if we ask your man to wait outside,” the man called Marcus Kane spoke.     
  
Freya smiled when Lucian didn’t budge.   
  
“And  _ you’ll _ understand if I insist that he stay,” she retorted, her voice steady.  “You and your guns outnumber me quite heavily and until we come to an agreement, I’ll keep the only weapon I need at my side.”   
  
Eyes flicked again to the large man on her right. Many were intimidated by Lucian. He was large and his eyes were hardened by war.  With Lucian at her side, she’d never have to insist a second time.   
  
No one argued.   
  
“I assume you have questions?” she began when no one else did, sitting down in the vacant seat at the furthest point of the table. Lucian stepped behind her and his presence loomed across the table. But eyes soon traveled down to her.   
  
“Let’s start with the reason you came here.  You say you need our help.  Why?” Abby Griffin questioned first. Bellamy Blake simply sat staring, watching Freya’s expressions.   
  
“The  _ Kongeda _ is at odds with the Commander.  It is no secret that her friendship with Clarke has made her appear weak. She has  _ Wanheda _ under her protection and for now that means Clarke is more powerful than the Commander,” Freya explained  “My people live far from here, untainted by your war with  _ Trikru _ and the  _ Maunon _ .  Our home has always been coveted as well as our ships. And now we have a new threat. With each crack in the Commander’s power over the Coalition,  _ Azgeda _ grows more brazen. Queen Nia no longer has the threat of the Mountain to stop her from breaking ties with the Commander. But she needs a larger army, more allies to break the Coalition and defeat Lexa. She seeks first to move against the  _ Floudon _ and take our lands from us against the terms laid out by  _ Kongeda _ laws.  That is something I will not have. But we cannot fight her alone.”   
  
“Wait,” Lincoln interrupted. “How is  _ Azgeda _ going to take  _ Floukru _ territory? Your lands aren’t accessible without boats.”   
  
“Boats she has access to. Loyalties have been compromised. I told you I would not have come unless I actually needed your help,” she argued.   
  
“But if Luna wants an alliance, why does she need us? Surely there are other clans who are willing?” Bellamy finally asked.  Her eyes danced briefly to Lucian, a glance which he did not share. “If we take up arms against grounders under Lexa’s protection, we violate the ceasefire.  What makes you think we’d want that, threaten the peace we have here? Grounders have kept their distance for months. Why would we jeopardize that for--”   
  
“You think because they aren’t knocking down your gates that you are safe? That this ceasefire is real peace?” she scoffed.  “You have no idea what the Ice Queen is capable of, what they’ll do to your people if she gets enough followers!” her voice was raised and she felt Lucian’s hand fall gently on her shoulder. She paused, breathing in and out until she felt her heart steady.  “Lexa will not come to our aid. Not while she is uncertain of the loyalties of the other clans. She believes a summit will be enough to appease the Coalition, to appease Queen Nia. But by then it will be too late. If we do not find allies soon, by the time the clans meet for a summit,  _ Azgeda _ will have made soldiers or corpses out of my people.”   
  
“The  _ Azgeda _ army is too large for  _ Skaikru _ to fight back, even  _ with _ guns,” Lincoln noted and Freya nodded in agreement.    
  
“So what is your proposal?” Bellamy asked then and her eyes perked up to his, hardened and suspicious.   
  
There was tension, between them and she knew it wasn’t just her words. It was everything she had done between that moment and when she’d pinned his body to the ground, his own gun trained on him as he stared up at her in a combination of wonder and fury. And now he sat across from her at the long table and she could see the distrust in his eyes. She couldn’t exactly blame him.   
  
“We want the same things as you,  _ Skayon. _ We want peace and prosperity for our people without the threat of tyranny by other clans. Without bloodshed, if possible. There will be meeting, in my village. I have already garnered the support of five other clans, with  _ Skaikru _ at our side,  _ Azgeda _ can be defeated and the Commander will be forced to take action or lose the Coalition.”   
  
“Which clans?” Lincoln interrupted and her eyes danced towards him in amusement.   
  
“I will not name them here.  _ Trigeda _ are understandably Lexa’s most loyal warriors. The Coalition is fragile and they will see any involvement as a direct act of treason against her.”   
  
“And you think I’m going to run to the Commander and tell her?” he asked her, his voice accusing.   
  
“I don’t know what you’ll do. But I’ll not wager the lives of my people and those of five other clans on the hope that you don’t hold a grudge,” she replied with equal fervor. She glanced then back at Bellamy. “I only need you,  _ Skai heda _ . Come with me, meet with the other clans and see that there can be peace between our nations without the threat of the Commander.”   
  
“Chancellor Griffin is in charge here,” he answered hesitantly but Freya did not move her eyes from his.   
  
“And yet the people follow you,” she spoke, raising an eyebrow. Everyone in the room shifted slightly. “I mean no disrespect, of course. But the other clans know of you,  _ Skayon _ . They will feel comfortable knowing you are there to speak for your people.”   
  
Bellamy glanced at Abby and there was a tension there that Freya had observed several times before. Bringing it up was the only way to speed up what was already imminent. Somehow, the Chancellor would have to see that the people put their trust in Bellamy after the sacrifices he had made.   
  
“This would break the terms of our ceasefire,” Abby announced.   
  
“There is still no treaty protecting your people,” Freya reminded her.  “Help mine and when the Commander calls the Summit, my people and I will stand with  _ Skaikru _ for peace and embrace the treaty.”   
  
“You mean Luna will,” Lincoln corrected and she could feel Lucian shift slightly behind her.   
  
“Yes, of course,” she told them, catching herself. No one seemed to want to speak and she sighed.  “If you accept my proposal, come to our meeting and align yourself with  _ Floukru _ , we are willing to offer you land for your settlements.” At her words everyone’s tense eyes flickered. “ _ Floudon _ may command the seas but we have vast holdings in the East. Our lands are fertile and less harsh than those in the forest. Can you imagine it, farmlands and coastal waters as far as the eye can see?” The sky people looked around at one another, considering her offer. Bellamy’s eyes did not move from her own.  She would not allow him to see how his stare started to unnerve her.  “You know you cannot colonize the mountain,” she said finally and it was Abby who looked at her in concern.  “The other clans have been fighting the people in the mountain for decades. If your people move into those bunkers,  _ Skaikru _ will become the enemy.”   
**  
** There was only silence then, their options weighing heavily on their minds and she could tell that some were more likely to agree than others. Bellamy was hesitant, while Kane seemed intrigued and hopeful by the idea of a safer and more prosperous settlement. She could not gauge Abby’s thoughts though Freya was certain they were more or less focused on her daughter as opposed to uprooting their clan.   
  
“The council will discuss it,” Bellamy answered finally and she felt her lips pull at the corners of her mouth when her eyes caught his.   
  
“I’ll see myself out,” was her reply when Lincoln stepped towards her.    
  
She stood, Lucian pulling her chair from the table as she did so and he followed her closely as they walked out the door. He did not speak until they were once again outside and they could isolate themselves from watchful eyes.      
  
“They’ll accept,” she whispered in their language and Lucian’s jaw clenched.   
  
“You hope they will,” he corrected.  “He is not as blind as you would think him,” he warned her. “This place is not safe for you. You risk too much with them.”   
  
“I risk what is necessary,” she reminded him once more. “There is little time and full disclosure will only slow things down, make them more wary. Lincoln will assure them that they can trust my mother.”   
  
“ _ Heda _ \--”   
  
“I know,” she interrupted, this time the bite in her voice silenced him. “But without his trust, there will be no convincing the others.”    
  
Lucian rarely looked down at her in pity but she could see it in his eyes then. He knew the task at hand and the burden she carried. It was her duty to him, to her people. She had to fix what was broken and without these Sky People none of that was possible. She shifted uncomfortably and his gaze changed as he swallowed hard.   
  
“We can still flee all of this,” he attempted and her eyes darted towards him.   
  
“Do not even suggest it,” she commanded. “It was my weakness that led us to this,” she hissed. “You and I both know what they’ll do if I don’t succeed.”   
  
“And if this Bellamy is not enough? They asked for  _ Wanheda _ , not this boy.”   
  
“He is not a boy, Lucian,” she reminded him though she realized as she said it she did not know why she was defending something so petty. “And I will make them see. He was there too. He is just as responsible.”     
  
“And what will he do when he discovers your lie?”    
  
“Hopefully by then we will be home and our people will be safe. He would do the same for his own.”   
  
“I do not like this,” he whispered and his eyes were no longer harsh. His eyes were soft as they had been when she was a child, as they had been when--no she couldn’t think of that now.   
  
“I know,” she agreed, letting out a long breath as she stared back up at him.  “But we do what we must.”

 

* * *

 

**BELLAMY**

 

“You’re making a mistake if you think you can trust her,” Octavia whispered shaking her head.   
  
“You think I don’t know that?” Bellamy replied, leaning back in his chair, it squeaked as he did so. His crossed his arms over his chest. “But what choice do we have? We can’t stay here. Not permanently. And if we try and take Mount Weather we’ll be at war with the grounders. Again. We need to stop simply surviving and start planning for the future of our people.”  
  
“She’s hiding something,” Octavia added.  
  
“Of course she’s hiding something,” Lincoln interjected. “Freya only ever deals with half-truths. It’s the only way she can deal with each of the clans. She’s telling us what we need to know, nothing more.”  
  
Bellamy was surprised to see the slight look of amusement on his lips.  
  
“So we just blindly trust her, even if it means she’s lying to us?”  
  
“It’s a gamble. But Luna is a friend. Hell, and I’ve known Freya most of my life and while she and I have had our differences, the clans respect her for a reason,” Lincoln answered. “The _Floudon_ see her as next in line to lead them after Luna steps down. To align with her would be in your favor.”  
  
“You haven’t said anything about how _Trikru_ will take this,” Kane spoke. “Is it wise to go against the Commander’s wishes and our alliance with the _Trigeda_?”  
  
“She’s right about that, if _Trikru_ knew of her plans to rise against _Azgeda_ with the help of other clans, she'd be brought in stand trial at Lexa’s mercy,” Lincoln replied. “If _Floukru_ are threatened by the Ice Queen…” he paused, sighing, resigned. “Freya is doing what she thinks is right for her people. Luna has been at odds with the Commander for a long time. If she can’t get help from the _Kongeda_ , then she’ll do whatever it takes to succeed by other means.”  
  
“What are the risks?” Bellamy asked and Octavia was shaking her head, disappointed the he was even considering the proposal.  
  
“There are two factions of _Floukru_ we’d be dealing with. Luna is their leader, but she’s a pacifist. She doesn’t permit violence amongst her people. But she’s also protective of them. She has a war chief, in charge of training their warriors. These warriors are heavily armed, as Freya said. It won’t be like fighting _Trikru_ if the Ice Queen gets her hands on their weapons.”  
  
“How did they get guns in the first place?” Abby asked.   
  
“Boat Nation aren’t just farmers and fishermen, Abby,” Lincoln answered. “It is only recently that Luna left the old ways behind. In the past they have had less noble means of survival, like all of us. For decades they were able to do that by raiding settlements, taking what they needed to form a strong society. Their people are the most traveled of all the clans. The wealth of knowledge they have is unmatched. So is their arsenal.”  
  
“You mean they’re pirates?” Bellamy scoffed in disbelief.  
  
“We all have warriors. It just happens that most of theirs fight their battles at sea.”  
  
“What else?” Bellamy questioned. Lincoln seemed hesitant at first but he spoke.  
  
“Her older sister, Eden…” he paused. “She, unlike Freya, is _not_ an ally you want. She is their war chief. She’s ruthless and cold and if my apprehensions are correct about the secrets Freya _is_ hiding, then this is not just an outside threat they’re facing. If Eden’s making a power play for Luna’s seat, then we could be walking into civil war.”  
  
“What help are we in that case?” Kane asked. “If the Boat Nation are amidst war in their own camps, it does us no good in the eyes of the Commander if we are seen to be sympathizing.”  
  
“It also does us no good if we have no allies to stand on our side when a summit is called,” Bellamy answered. “If the Commander truly means to sign a treaty between the grounders and the Sky People, then we will need other clans willing to agree to it as well. Their unrest is dangerous to us. And if we consider the lands she’s offered…”  
  
“We have lands, plenty to share if _Trikru_ are willing to barter some of it,” Abby argued. “And Mount Weather--”  
  
“Mount Weather _isn’t_ an option,” Bellamy ground out, more forcefully than he’d intended and all chatter stopped. He was tired of talking about it, tired of fighting over and over again about the graveyard bunker in the mountains. “If were are seen colonizing the mountain, we breach our agreement with the Commander. We’ll be at war, again. If there is hope of peace somewhere past all of this, I’m willing to consider it.” He paused, looking down at his hands and swallowing hard before he spoke his next words.  “Clarke would want this.”  
  
“Clarke--,” Abby hissed. “--isn’t here. And here, I’m in charge.”  
  
“Abby--” Kane attempted, placing his hand on her shoulder but she brushed it off.  
  
“If Clarke wanted a say, she wouldn’t have left,” she added. “She’s gone and it’s up to us to keep our own peace with these people. If we agree to this, it’s _them_ we’re putting in jeopardy. We all have had enough blood on our hands.”  
  
“But if we don’t agree to this, we risk losing an important ally,” said Bellamy. “If we don’t at least hear them out, we could be facing the same threat a few weeks from now, maybe sooner.”  Abby didn’t reply at first, looking away as she clenched her jaw. “She’s asked for me and I will go. For our people.”  
  
Finally she turned, her eyes trained on Bellamy in anger at his defiance. She stood, pushing down onto the table as she nearly leapt out of her seat, seething.  
  
“Then go. Leave with _them_.  But know if you do, I’ll only allow volunteers to follow you. I will not willingly send people out there to a sector we still know nothing about.”  
  
She didn’t speak again as she stormed out and Bellamy could still feel the anger hanging in the room as the door slammed behind her. He would not let his own anger cloud his judgement, not when he had such an opportunity before him. He didn’t mean to glance up at Octavia either, but when he did she saw her staring down at him in disapproval. But he’d made up his mind.  
  
“I’ll put together a team of volunteers and a supply list before we sit down and discuss the plan with _Floukru_ ,” he announced and she shook her head slowly.    
  
“I’ll go with you,” Lincoln offered, much to Octavia’s annoyance, and Bellamy nodded his thanks.   
  
“What about the mapping run?” Kane questioned Bellamy. “You were planning to drive out through sector 7 tomorrow?”  
  
“Octavia can lead the team on the run in my place,” he instructed, hoping she would find some pride in opportunity but she was still reeling about his decision.    
  
“And Lincoln’s kill order?” she hissed. “If he’s seen, he’s dead on sight.”  
  
“I’ll be fine,” he whispered, trying to comfort her but both could see it would do no good. “The farther away from _Trikru_ territory I go, the better. Under _Floukru’s_ protection, no one will find me.”  
  
“You said Luna was in hiding for a reason,” she ground out. “Now you want to go out there, with a kill order hanging over your head?”  
  
“Octavia,” he said, placing his hands on either side of her face. She lowered her eyes away from his.  “Luna is a friend. I’ll be safe with her people.”  
  
Octavia sighed, submitting to Lincoln’s plea but also doing so grudgingly as she walked out of the room.  Several members of the group left, leaving him alone with Kane and Lincoln as they sat in silence.   
  
“You realize the risk this poses?” Kane asked softly. “If this falls through.”  
  
“This might be what is best for our people,” Bellamy insisted. “We can’t sit here, waiting for another attack, waiting for Ice Nation to come knocking at our door. What they’re offering is not only a way for eventual peace, but a way to remove us from this conflict entirely. Out of _Trikru_ territory.”  
  
“And into a foreign one we know nothing about,” Kane reminded him.  
  
“But she’s right,” Lincoln offered. “Across the sea puts you far enough outside of conflict with _Trikru_ , and the lands are expansive. They have farms and trading ports. They’ll have enough space to share.”  
  
“But why so much?” Kane asked. “If their lands are vast enough, why is there so much to spare?”  
  
“ _Floukru’s_ villages on land are small. Most Floudon land dwellers live in the port villages. The rest, the captains, the leadership, they live off-shore.”  
  
“Off-shore?” Bellamy asked, his brow furrowed.  
  
“You just have to see it to understand.”

* * *

 

**FREYA**

 

The cell she slept in was confining.   
  
It was suffocating, the closeness of the walls, but it wasn’t the sole reason for her insomnia. There were more important things to do than sleep, her heart pleaded. But her head silenced the protests, reminding her that rest was necessary for the days to come.    
  
Still, she found herself wandering in the dead of night. There were soldiers stationed near her confining cage and Lucian stood watch. He only lifted a questioning brow when she emerged and he followed her from a polite distance, giving her the space she craved. The two  _ skaikru  _ guards followed just behind Lucian, pretending not to be interested in the distance of their fingers to their triggers.  She walked down metal corridors, which led into more metal corridors, until she found herself in front of an open door, a young woman standing between her and walking through it. Freya looked around, seeing no one but the four of them in this stand-off and the low hum of electricity buzzing through the overhead lights.   
  
“This location is off-limits,” the girl said and Freya smiled.   
  
“I was told only Command was off-limits,” she replied and the girl shifted, holding her gun a little tighter in her hands and she could feel the heat of Lucian’s body inch up behind her. Freya let her eyes linger on the gun for only a moment before her eyes traveled up, meeting the girl’s instead.   
  
“You’ve been restricted to the common areas and sleeping quarters only,” she then announced, more force in her voice, lifting her head in an attempt at authority which was clearly not hers to give and it made Freya’s lips twitch in the corners ever so slightly.    
  
Freya was ready to speak, opening her mouth to respond in well-crafted bullshit that would no doubt have Lucian rolling his eyes from behind her but she never got the chance when she saw a figure step up behind the girl with the gun. For the first time since she could remember, Freya’s voice was lost.   
  
“Let her through,” he instructed, his voice tired and she wondered if he’d gotten any sleep either.  His eyelids were heavy, but his stare was as direct as it always was in her direction.    
  
The girl wasted no time in stepping aside, per his command, watching Freya from the side of her eyes as their paths briefly crossed. Freya took in the sites around her, the room was fairly small with little in it other than a couple chairs around a small table and a large board with various locations scrawled across it in hasty writing.    
  
She let her eyes linger over it, noticing the half drawn sectors creating a map of their known territories. Sectors only half completed with details that caused her fingers to twitch from moderate inaccuracies.  She could see they still didn’t know where Floukru was, or most of the other clans for that matter. Lincoln knew and she briefly wondered why he hadn’t just given them one of the maps from his little book.  

“If you’d like a more accurate map--” she offered placing her fingers over the marked glass, intent on erasing a wildly exaggerated Trikru border in the South, but she paused when his hand wrapped around her wrist, pausing her adjustment.    
  
“ _ Meikas of, Skayon _ ,” Lucian muttered from his place in the corner. He stood, his arms crossed over his chest, his permanent frown souring his face.   
  
Bellamy understood the warning, pulling his hands from her person as he was instructed but his eyes remained on hers.    
  
“Just--” he paused, moving a step back and she wondered if he recalled the last time they’d been in such close proximity. She nearly smiled at the bruises on his nose. “--don’t touch that.”   
  
“I just meant to help,” she told him with a shrug, turning away from the map and plopping herself down in a chair where a bottle sat open and inviting. She glanced up at him, gesturing to it.  “What are you drinking?” she asked.   
  
Bellamy crossed the room where she was seated, taking the bottle from the table and pouring some of it’s clear contents into the cup in front of them. There was only one, she noticed, and she assumed he wasn’t expecting company. She smelled the liquid, squinting slightly as the harsh liquid burned her eyes, and then raised the cup towards him.  

“ _ Mochof _ ,” she thanked him with a sly grin before downing the drink that burned her throat. She soured her face only slightly before setting the cup in front of him, pouring liquid into his cup as she swallowed her own. “Not terrible,” she whispered through her strained voice. “But I do prefer my booze a little less savage.”

  
“Can’t say we’ve had much time to perfect the process,” he mocked bitterly and his tension caused her to raise an eyebrow, following his eyes to the markered board again.     
  
“I can help, you know? With all that,” she offered again, sliding the cup towards him and taking the liberty of pouring the liquid into it. “There are few people who can claim the knowledge I’ve acquired over the last decade.”

“Why do you care?” he asked her, watching the bottle resting on the edge of the cup as she poured.    
  
“My mother believes we’re all better off secluded in our own world, away from all of this. When I was a child I saw her break from the pressure that comes from war. She swore never to kill again,” she explained, watching him place the cup to his lips and drink.  “She wanted us to live in peace. But peace can only last so long. I’ve seen so much of this world and I know there is more to living than what she wants for our people. And I know that begins with making lasting alliances, bringing in outsiders to learn from and share our knowledge.”   
  
“What’s so wrong with peace?” he questioned. “I’d give anything for real peace for my people.”   
  
“There is no such thing as ‘real peace’,  _ Skayon _ ,” she explained. “ _ Azgeda _ is at our door and threatening to destroy that peace for power. It’s human nature. The strong consume the weak. And if we let them take our lands to preserve ‘peace’, then we are sending out a message that we cannot stand up for ourselves. We might as well be bowing down to the tyranny of the Greek empire if you will,” she told him and his eyes lifted from his cup to her eyes in surprise.    
  
She let loose a small grin as she nodded her head in the direction of the book on the table off to the side.  _ The Iliad _ wasn’t a favorite of hers but she appreciated the story for some of it’s more popular themes - fate, free will, love...war. War was an aspect of life and no matter how many times her mother tried to emphasize the importance of Freya’s position as peacekeeper, there was always the looming conflict that threatened to erase it all.   
  
“How was she when you saw her?” the question came and Freya was surprised when it did, having it expected it much sooner.     
  
“ _ Wanheda _ is in safe hands with the Commander for now,” she started but Bellamy shook his head.   
  
“That’s not what I meant. I meant, how  _ is _ she,” he clarified and Freya nodded in understanding, studying the way his eyes danced eagerly for news and then eyed his hands anxiously.   
  
“I spoke to her once, she wouldn’t remember,” she admitted to him and Bellamy’s eyes shot up. “I’d tracked her to this trading post in the west,” Freya pointed towards the map. “She’d colored her hair red to disguise herself but I knew it was her. I’d been following her for weeks. She seemed--,” Freya stopped as she searched for the right word. “Burdened, alone. But strong,” she admitted as well. “She is brave, your Clarke.”   
  
“She’s not…” but he didn’t finish the sentence as he glanced up towards the map where Freya had indicated. “We’ve never gone this far north before,” he noted. “It’s Ice Nation territory.”   
  
“It’s a good thing.  _ Azgeda _ is not known for their mercy. Even less so for their sympathy towards  _ Skaikru _ .” she paused, noticing his lost expression. “She will be safe until the summit,” she explained. “Once our alliance is solidified with the other clans, I will take you to her and our clans will stand together in the face of the  _ Kongeda _ .”   
  
“Why didn’t you approach her then, ask for her help?” he questioned.   
  
“She needed time and I was prepared to give it to her,” she admitted. “But I lost her. I was distracted for a moment, a mistake I won’t make again. By then it was too late. I tracked them to the outskirts of Polis but I’d already lost them. Once they entered the city I knew she was out of my reach.”   
  
“If you’re at odds with the Commander, how will you get into Polis for the Summit?”   
  
“My cousin may not want my presence, but she cannot deny a peacekeeper access to a peace summit. Our ambassador, the old goat that he is, is in Polis as we speak, negotiating for  _ Floukru _ . But once the Summit is called, the peacekeepers of all thirteen clans must join for the ceremony.”   
  
“Thirteen?” he asked, his eyebrow raised. Freya shifted slightly.   
  
“If we break the Coalition, there will be chaos. Having enough strength on our side will force Lexa’s hand. She will have to make  _ Skaikru _ the thirteenth clan to maintain peace and order.”   
  
“There is no way the other clans will agree to that. They want us dead,” he argued but she shook her head.    
  
“Five of the twelve do not. Together we make up six and as a whole we will make the Commander see our side. She will not side with  _ Azgeda _ .”   
  
“And  _ Trikru _ ?”   
  
“ _ Trikru _ will fall in line with whatever Lexa chooses,” she explained, reaching across the table and filling the cup once more.

“Who are the other clans?” Bellamy asked then and Freya lowered the cup from her mouth. “We’ve agreed to come and meet with them, based solely on your word. The least you could do is tell us who will stand with us.”   
  
Freya couldn’t see Lucian from where she was sitting but she could feel his presence, even as he moved slightly towards them. Bellamy’s eyes focused on the man, much taller than he, as Lucian towered over them. He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing once and she was brought back to the reality of where they were and what this was.     
  
“Three days, you’ll meet them then,” she reiterated, standing. “Get some sleep,  _ Skayon _ ,” she instructed. “You’ll need your strength.”

She did not look back as she turned towards the door nor did Bellamy reply to her cold words and obvious evasion of his question. He’d find out soon enough who the clans were, and by then she could only hope that she would still have the strength to save her people.

A/N: Now that season 3 is over, I feel a renewed sense of motivation for this story. I’ve stated on my tumblr that Luna will not be the same Luna (not exactly) as the canon version on the show. Because I don’t want to have to go back and keep rewriting everything, Freya will remain Luna’s daughter, but I will do my best to remain as true to the canon character as possible with slight alterations to still adhere to the plot I envisioned for this story. Thanks! 

 

Trigedasleng:

 

_ Heda  _ = Commander/Leader/Chief

 

_ Kongeda _ = Coalition

 

_ Trikru  _ = Woods Clan

 

_ Maunon _ = Mountain People

 

_ Floudon/Floukru _ = Boat People/Boat Nation

 

_ Azgeda _ = Ice Nation

 

_ Skayon _ = Sky One

 

_ Wanheda _ = Commander of Death (in reference to Clarke)

 

_ Meikas of, Skayon _ = Hands off, Sky One

 

_ Mochofi _ = Thank You

 


End file.
